Camellia Sinensis

sample from crowkettle creme de blerg…

in all honesty, i think earl grey cream is one of the few ways i’m almost always ok with the blerg. Still not my favourite cup but i can drink a whole one without feeling nauseous from the the blerg. :) So that was my afternoon tea….still more blerg to come though. lol

Final Count: 62

Gongfu!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_r2WI7ACGW/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrx5DR4YYI

The song doesn’t fit the vibe of the tea at all but I couldn’t get it out of my head until I had played it…

This review is for the Si Ji Chun from Camellia Sinensis’ 2019 Spring Taiwan sampler set…

I was at Camellia Sinensis last Sunday and I talked to the gentleman who served for a while about the new Taiwanese oolongs that they had brought in for the year – but I didn’t end up buying any because I’ve not been feeling greener oolongs as much as of late. However, the next day at work a coworker brought in 2/3 of the three tea sampler of Taiwanese oolongs (she’d given away the third one because it was a Dong Ding – and she’s not a fan of that style of oolong) for us to sample in the office, so that was cool because I got to try 2/3 of them without actually committing to purchasing a bag of each.

I actually like Si Ji Chun a lot – and if I was on a bigger greener oolong kick right now this is 100% the type of green oolong that I would want to stock up on. I drank it Grandpa Style througout my work day on Monday, and I was just so impressed by the flavour profile. It was just really fresh tasting, and had a beautiful creamy flavour and mouthfeel – accompanied by fresh floral notes and a hint of butter. The sweetness of snap peas, as well! Such a beautifully delicious oolong.

Thanks to my coworker for sharing!

Sipdown (577)!

Finished this one off last week. I wanted to brew it Gong Fu, but I realized that I didn’t have enough leaf left to do that with the size of gaiwan that I left unpacked. So, Western it was. It was still a really nice cup though; smooth and medium bodied. Great array of flavour notes: freshly churned butter, vanilla/tonka, fresh snow peas, and a bit of a nutty finish (almond??). Pleasant and tasty with a profile that I think works well for Spring time and winter.

Made a mug of this to sip on during a D&D campaign a while ago; it was a weird juxtaposition between a very combat heavy session and this brew which was quite delicate and floral – lots and lots of orchid notes. In addition to being floral, it had more vegetal notes of fennel and romaine lettuce and then a really buttery milky/creamy finish. In some ways, like I observed last tasting of this, it reminds me of a milk oolong. It’s different; still not sure if I actually enjoy the profile or not…

Hot cuppa during a Daredevil binge.

- Very floral and buttery
- With qualities that almost reminded me of milk oolong
- Sweet; I can see the “vanilla” comparison from the company’s description
- But for me it’s a bit more like sweetened condensed milk

From a Puerh TTB (don’t remember which)

I’ve been bad about reviewing teas lately, In large part because I don’t feel like writing a long essay. So, my new goal is just to say a few words and give a rating. No muss; no fuss.

So, this is a really pleasant tea. It strikes almost perfect balance between the aroma, taste, and finish. The finish is also long enough that you get that nice synergy where you are still tasting the last sip when you take a drink.

The flavor is good, but doesn’t stand out. It is mostly tobacco, but with nice floral and vegetative highlights. Becomes darker, though not bitter, in the finish. By the third steep, I’m feeling a nice thick texture, particularly on the roof of my mouth. The cha qi is noticeable, but not overly strong. This tea will help you relax but not put you to sleep.

Afternoon green tea to try and relax and get things done. Thanks for sending these my way crowkettle – always nice to step outside my “usual”

Another sample from Crowkettle always nice to visit greens – never my first choice but in small, drinkable quantities i can get behind them. I’m no dragonwell expert but this was nice. light, refreshing, juicy and slightly sweet. Thanks crowkettle!

Not as good as the YS selection.
Nose; toasted grain, clove, gardenia, lychee.
Palate; slight sweet spice otherwise similar to nose.

I wanted to share this one with people, but then I fell off the tea wagon again and when I finally came back to it and finished up my little ziplocks I realized I only had a serving left. For shame! When I get more Shan Li Xi (from here or over there) I will remember those I passed over.

On top of the usual coconut-butter goodness, I’m also picking up a bit of marine.

Steep Count: 3

(2016 Harvest)

Gulping up sweet coconut-butter goodness, with a dash of berries, before running off to yoga. The coco-cherry sundae is readily apparent today, but it still has yet to replicate that long sweet finish I got from the first time I drank this.

Still not sure how to rate this, because not every cup is as amazing as today’s or the last time I posted a note, but I’m leaning towards good things!

Steep Count: 4

(2016 Harvest)

I picked this tea up at random and had to look up Shan Lin Xi later to figure out what it was all about (I’m an oolong noob). I wish Camellia Sinensis provided a little more info than the bare-bones spiel about this being a high-altitude Taiwanese oolong, but I’m willing to forgive them because it’s delicious.

First steep (3min) tastes like vanilla-coconut with a long sweet finish. There’s some floral oolong action going on, with a little butter.

Second steep (1min) introduces a berry element. The finish that’s exceptionally fruity, reminiscent of a cherry sundae. It’s vibrant and lingering, and has me questioning my tongue.

Third steep mellows things out. The long finish is sweet vanilla cream. Ice cream in a cup.

Steep count: 5

(2016 Harvest)

I’ve dealt with Priority No. 1 sipdown, so now I can move onto Priority No. 2! There are two-and-a-half pots left, which means I can probably finish it off by tomorrow..

The coconut has held up well over the course of the last few months. The pineapple is subtle, and combines with the coconut and base to create a creamy tropical beverage, à la piña colada (cringe, linguists, cringe). I definitely prefer this without milk and at a warmer temperature though.

Anyways, while this isn’t a priority repurchase, I can see myself ordering more in the future- maybe when the world is warmer and/or I need more of this company’s delicious Cream of Earl Grey (it’s my favourite one right now).

We finally got back from a little road trip for a wedding 1168km (725mi) north of here. It’s nice to be reunited with tea (and so many other things). Not that I was completely without tea, because I brought this along!

It was disillusioning to see that this was practically the only one that fit the bill for travel life: doesn’t need milk, doesn’t need exact steeping perameters (temp, time, amount, etc.), can handle hard water and Styrofoam cups, and isn’t a loss if it doesn’t get resteeped. It was nice to become better acquainted with this one though; I was benevolent-indifferent before but I’ve warmed up to it.

Also, you can’t go wrong with pineapple or coconut in the summer. And bonus: the super devout relatives don’t ostracize you as much when you drink tea (poor dad and his beer)!

This tastes like a piña colada. It’s all that buttery and creamy coconut goodness mixed with the candied-sweet pineapple flavouring.

This is practically the only time of year I almost exclusively drink lots of tea with milk, so it is with great sadness that I must prematurely mark this one as a sipdown. The bergamot and I were just starting to create a psychic connection (I was aware of it’s presence and location in the house at all times, across vast distances).

I guess I’ll have to cozy up to the other Cream of Earl Grey in my cupboard for a while, but it feels like a betrayal bordering on bergamot sacrilege.

Today this tastes a little like root beer. Huh. It’s a whole of lot of vanilla and a lot less bergamot than usual. It’s still lovely though- just not what I was expecting!

I think this may become my staple Cream Grey; it all depends on if I can find another one or two offerings that warrant placing orders with Camellia Sinensis. It’s definitely a cheaper and more naturally scented specimen than my long favourite from David’s Tea, which is more dessert-like but also more artificially “sour”.

This is my go to morning tea when I want to combine the indulgent and the traditional.. and also a splash of milk. I just have to remember to be frugal with my teaspoon serving because this bergamot has a lot of personality; although, that’s part of what makes it so decadent.

Sublime and intoxicating.

I had the bag of loose leaf under my nose for about half an hour. The aroma of the brew is sweet vanilla cream with a hint of bergamot but the loose leaf aroma is the flavour profile’s tell- bergamot first, vanilla second. The second steep switches that up, and is primarily vanilla with light citrus highlights.

I love that it feels like indulgence to drink something that I usually consider so mundane (sorry, Earl Grey). I’ll withhold rating until I figure out if my personal bergamot threshold can handle repeated exposure to this.

Gongfu…

The first steeps have a touch of puckering astringency, and the taste is very “pumpkin brittle” with subtle spices, a mineral-y vegetal hint (green bell pepper?), and nutty sweetness. Something about the finish is reminding me of herbed butter…

This is my last day of staycation. I didn’t get as many sipdowns in as I wanted, but I sure did drink A LOT of really good yancha over the last week, & roasted teas in general. So, it’s hard to be mad at that!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9SUvAug2Lq/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-ZrpQybXM

I took a sick day today because I woke up and not ten minutes later threw up all over my kitchen floor as I was making breakfast. No warning or funny feelings prior to the incident – just, sudden vomit. Sorry if that’s TMI.

Anyway; for the rest of the day I continued to feel pretty unwell and I did have another moment where I got sick – but at least I saw it coming and was able to get to the washroom. So, I didn’t do much in the way of tea drinking.

I add this earlier in the afternoon following a nap though; I woke up and for an hour or two everything felt alright. I seized the opportunity for tea. This was really nice; I think the choice to brew something up with a mild to medium roast was a good one; heavy roast would have been too harsh on my stomach, I feel. However this level of roast just felt warm, toasty, and comforting. Main notes were toasted/roasted walnuts and peach jam, with a sort of maple-y undertone and sweetness. Maybe a tiny hint of cinnamon, too? Or some other sweeter, soft spice.

This is just a consistently nice tea, IMO.

Tried something a little more different with this tea.

From what I could recall, this is a really toasty/nutty tasting oolong so I thought those element might be a really nice compliment to the pumpkin agave that DT released for the fall. I didn’t want a hot tea though because I was working in our back stockroom unpacking boxes so I iced this tea and then added the agave.

I think it actually worked really splendidly! I didn’t add much agave, so the flavour of the oolong was definitely still the strongest element of the brew. It was very roasty and nutty tasting like I remembered: definitely that sort of “grilled nut” flavour that CS uses in their official description of the tea. Apart from that, I thought there was also a nice mix of wood/oak notes, mineral, shea butter, and cinnamon notes as well. Deep in the undertones was a hint of something vegetal but not overly descript. All in all, the amalgamation of all those different flavour notes really came together to create something very nice and natural to compliment the sweet pumpkin/squash notes from the agave. The cinnamon, nuts, wood, and roasty elements kind of played in to make this feel more autumnal and ‘Harvest’-y and that deep vegetal undertone almost seemed to exaggerate the squashiness/vegetal aspects of the pumpkin.

Really, it was a great match up and a perfect example of added flavours in tea that don’t mask the taste of the tea itself, and which play off one another to elevate the profile to another, more nuanced and elegant level.

It’s been off and on raining all day, but nothing super heavy. Drizzling, really.

I’ve been waiting literally all day to head outside in the pouring rain and drink a cup of tea, but honestly it’s getting so late now and I’ve kind of given up on waiting for the rain now so I just kind of went “fuck it” and brought my Gong Fu tray and a carafe outside, set up my laptop in the boot room with a good album playing and just enjoyed my tea outside with a journal to scrawl out some notes.

I started with a wash, and then each infusion afterwards I increased by seconds starting with five seconds for the first proper infusion. I think I got a pretty good session out of the tea, and most importantly it was very peaceful and relaxing.

- 1st infusion:
Roasty/nutty with clean profile and no lingering notes in the finish

- 2nd infusion:
The same but with lingering plum-y sweetness on the roof of my mouth

- 3rd infusion:
Roasty, nutty, wet wood, mineral, sweet, raisin, malt, plum (in that order)

- 4th infusion:
Touch of astringency/pucker, more mineral and raisin with aftertaste of leaves and bark

- 5th infusion:
Sharp decline in liquor colour; surprised at the lack of longevity this is showing

- 6th infusion:
Moving away from the roasty/nutty/woody side of things towards sweet, mellow fruit

- 7th infusion:
Plum, raisin, apricot, fuji apple, banana peel and hints of almond/marzipan in the finish

- 8th infusion:
Liquor is almost running clear – faintest notes of plum, marzipan but not much else

- 9th infusion:
Oversteeped this one but even still it brewed up like water; leaf is officially spent

And for anyone curious, the album I picked out was Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams album. It’s just such peaceful, easy going music – and I feel like his voice perfectly matches the soft, soothing roastier aspects of the tea as well as the sweetness of the fruit.

Also, I have to say I was pleased to see many of my initial observations when I drank this one Western style still held pretty true for the Gong Fu method of brewing.